Donald Trump redrew the map to win office. He’s now lost

IF DONALD TRUMP were a European politician, the structural flaws that threaten his presidency would be easy to see. If President Trump were sua Eccellenza, his great challenge would be the mismatch between the electoral coalition that (narrowly) carried him to victory and the collection of parties that he needs in order to pass laws. It is not hard to imagine the factions that might elect a Signor Trump in a country with dozens, rather than two, major political parties. On the right, his most ardent voters might come from a Law and Order Party, a Small Business Party, and a Christian Nationalist Party (with notably fierce views on Muslim immigration). Redrawing the electoral map, he might also attract votes from left-leaning parties hostile to globalisation and happy with hefty doses of state intervention: a Pensioner’s Union, perhaps, and an Agrarian and Industrial League.

Alas for il Presidente Trump, in this thought-experiment an overlapping but subtly different coalition won the most recent congressional elections: a “Republican” majority dominated by a pro-business Conservative Party, a National Party (led by defence hawks), a Christian Values Party and a...Continue reading